UTILIZATOR - M3 Mesh Anime Head Review

Hey peeps! Today, Inu looks like she came straight out of an anime!

I was told by numerous people to buy this; from other bloggers, as well as some of you readers, so I caved. To those who made me waste my linden on something I didn't need, something that I have others of...I thank you. This mesh avatar head is a dream! Welcome to the new age of anime mesh heads!

Before I say anything else, I want to make sure everyone knows that this is a MESH HEAD ONLY. No body/body parts are included outside of the head with attached eyeballs. 

I shall start off with the basics; what is included, what is needed, and a few notable features:

Included:
Manual
Style card
M3 Head
M3 HUD
Head alpha mask >For System-Bodies<
Full body alpha >For Mesh Avis<
Emote pack
Bonus items >Listed Below<
Update card >Check For Updates Before Use!!<

Bonus Items Box:
Textures
UV maps
Templates
A neck for Rikugou avatars
Away sign

Needed:
Skin OR Mesh Body

Inu's Suggested Items:
Literacy. Read the manual before bugging the creator.
Backup! Place the initial box inside the unpacked folder for backup.
HUD looks to small? Edit Mode - Stretch it!
Skin: <UTILIZATOR> - Anime Head M1 OR M2
Neck Fade: Chromatica [X] - M3 Head Blending Kit
Mesh Body: <UTILIZATOR> - Avatar 2.0 OR Rikugou

Noteable Features:
Full Mod + Easy to Mod/Share mods
Most mesh hair can be worn
Mix Expressions + "Live" Expressions
Incredible Hud

Now that we have that out of the way, let's go into detail about this avatar. Before I do, I should mention that the head has been modded. Sorry! I added more of a blush, because I wasn't satisfied with what was given. This leads us into my favorite part about this head; how easy it is to mod!

Modding: Included is a "Bonus Items" box that includes ALL you need to mod this head in Photoshop; from UV maps to actual skin textures of the included tones (full perm of course). Even the things you need for custom eyes are included! Everything has been made so easy for anyone with a little Photoshop know-how to be able to get the look they want without all the guess-work. My modding skills stink, and I still achieved the look I wanted!

Mesh Hair + Eyes: Some mesh heads, both for anime fans and fursonas, don't play nice with mesh hair. Sometimes mesh hair and eyeballs attached to system-eyeballs can attack each-other. There may be a way to fix this, but if you're not good at modding (even my modder-friend tried to help, with no success), you may be out of luck. The eyeballs on M3 ARE part of the head, so they don't attack mesh hair. The downside is that the eyes don't follow your cursor because, well..again, they are not attached to system-eyes. But, they are scripted to move around and randomly look at things. It doesn't look exactly "natural", but it isn't bad. The eyes can also be positioned via the HUD; great for taking photos.

Expressions: No, I do not own an abundance of mesh avis, but from those I do have/read about/heard about, most were troublesome for those who like expressions. I am not saying that M3 has a ton of facial expressions, but I AM saying that this head has a unique way of utilizing what it does have. The eyebrows, eyes, and mouth can all be changed independently. Taking things a step further, you can set it so that your mouth moves when you type in local chat, and/or when you talk on voice chat in local. Taking things to the extreme, it comes with special facial expression gestures such as, " :D :( :3 :O ". When the facial expressions are used in local, the M3 head responds accordingly, matching said facial expression!

HUD: The HUD is packed with many customizing features. It not only makes it simple to change your eye style and skin tone, a handy rgb color pad (rainbow color pad) is there for tinting. With the HUD you can also load in custom skin and eye textures by copy/pasting the texture's UUID. These custom textures can also be saved into the HUD so that you can bring them up at any time! If your eye colors are separate/two different face textures (Yes, you can split your face in half if you don't want it mirrored, otherwise just use one texture for both Left and Right), they will be saved that way, as half and half! And of course the HUD has such things as facial expressions, eye states, ear types/states, and other useful features.

"Inu, your skin doesn't look like any of the suggested ones!" - I'm actually wearing The Sugar Garden's [X] Hope skin in Tone A, with the blender I suggested above. ;) I also tried Tsg's Baby in Tone A, as well as TSG's Chloe in Zissis, which both seemed to work well too. Be creative!

"Do you have any tips on head-fitting for system-bodies?" - Yep! If you have a shape from one of the suggested M1 or M2 packs, you can better see how the head should fit. If not, that's okay too! In the end, I changed my head and jaw shape to get a good fit. I started by setting my head size to 100, and slapping on a decent mesh hair. Think about trying to "compact" the head and jaw without touching the head size. Make sure your scalp isn't showing from the top as you do this, and also watch what is happening with your jaw-area. It isn't hard, but takes a little patience. The included alpha with the blender pack worked better for me than the alpha included in the M3 box.

"Did you run into any bugs?" - Yes actually, but it was more-so on my end. I couldn't for the life of me get both eyes to show correctly. One would be fine, the other...well, if you ever saw a "lifeless" anime character, such as near-death, blank, expressionless...yeah, it looked like that. I played around with my SL Properties Settings (Ctrl+P on Windows) and fixed this problem by checking "Render alpha masks when 'Lighting and Shadows'" is and isn't enabled. I checked both because I don't run shadows all the time.

"Would you like to see anything added in a future update?" - I'm highly pleased with how the head is now! One problem I encountered when taking photos was that there isn't an option to position the eyes straight forward! Eeek! Anywhos, i'm not so much as looking for an update as I am looking forward to all the awesome mods that will surely flood the Marketplace soon! <3

Overall, I think that the M3 Mesh head is simply amazing in style and scripting. It not only captures the spirit of of a kawaii anime character, but it allows one's creativity to flourish quite easily. It was clearly well thought-out for the end-user who may not be familar with modding, as well as a time-saver for experienced creators. The M3 head is surely the future of mesh heads, hands down. Not to mention, the price is a steal in my book. Did I mention that it's super cute right out of the box? :D

If you require additional assistance with the modding I mentioned, or simple help with using the HUD and what not, feel free to IM me in-world. I would be more than happy to help with general questions. :) Of course, anything more than this, you should probably contact the creator.

[Marketplace: M3 Mesh Head]

- Inuoko Shikami \o/

Poses: { C h a m p l o o } - Neko Set + Ai *New*

BODYshop:
Hair + Bow: ^;^CaTwA^;^ Mesh - Hoshi *New*

PAINFUL Decor:
Tattoo: (Sandbox Visual) - Kawaii JPN Front Tattoo (tintable) >Freebie<
Piercing Cheek: Plushberry ~ Spike cheek piercing ~(BLACK)\ Bright

Create an OUTFIT:
Lingerie: Blah. - (My Zipper Tube Top) - Yellow *New* [The Big Boobies Show [X] ]
Skirt: *Milk* - My Russian Mini Skirt
Stockings: *Honey+Kitty* - (banana-peach) - 2-tone simple leggings
Shoes: //LovelyAlien// - SleekHeels *Newish*

ACCESSORIZE Me:
Bunny Acessories: ~SugahTitz~ - Bunneh Babe - Banana Rama
Headphones: +Half-Deer+ - Etude Headphones (Peach) *New* [The Box - Event]
Hair Clip: +Half-Deer+ - Wish On Me Hairclip (Happiness) >Color N/A<
Glasses: ! ellemeno ! - clean glasses - yellow >gatcha<
Necklace: Candy Bomb - Ice cream necklace - yellow
Rings: Noodles - Bunny Ring Anodized Lavender/Mint/Pink [Easter Hunt, May Be N/A]
Belly Chain: [EY:NO] - Body Strings Butterflies (silver)

Spare PARTS:
Hands: Slink - Mesh Hand - Elegant
Breasts: [deviant] - Lush Breasts >Skin Applier: The Sugar Garden - Tone A for Lush<
Whiskers: [ .:SOPHERIAN:. ] - Schatje Whiskers